Alicia Framis' large scale installation of LifeDress (2018) is on view at Art Basel Unlimited this week. Curated by New York-based curator Gianni Jetzer, Unlimited is Art Basel’s pioneering exhibition platform for projects that transcend the classical art-show stand, including massive sculpture and paintings, video projections, large-scale installations, and live performances.

lifedress

Women’s rights is a topic Alicia Framis has been exploring over the past two decades. The installation LifeDress (2018) brings together elements of technology, activism, and performance to address inequality in the workplace. The dresses are made out of airbag fabric from cars: a hightech material made in Japan. Each dress is made to protect against a different form of harassment, and designed to change form when intimidation occurs. The work can be seen as social commentary, dealing not only with the more serious cases of sexual harassment but also with general outmoded attitudes. With LifeDress, Framis brings a serious issue to the fore through a surrealistic act. The airbag fabric used for the dresses is highly unconventional for daily life. Airbags are, after all, intended to prevent accidents – moments in which one’s fate is in the hands of circumstance. The LifeDress collection is connected to Framis’s Anti_dog collection, which consists of clothing made from bulletproof material to protect women (particularly women of color) against violence.

Publication date: 12 Jun '19